Lesley Lokko was our Guest Editor in April 2011 - click here - to see the books that inspired her writing.
Lesley Lokko’s most recent novel, One Secret Summer, has just been released in paperback and her next, A Private Affair, is due out this summer. After spending seven years training to be an architect, she promptly threw in the towel and began writing fiction instead. Lesley now splits her time between London, Accra and Johannesburg, with the odd winter spent writing in cottage just outside Edinburgh. Her Scottish friends think she’s mad.
April 2013 Book of the Month. Glamour, fashion, power, hidden secrets from the past… it’s all here in this 7th exciting and engaging family drama from architect turned author Lesley Lokko - dubbed ‘Brainy Blockbusters’ by her publisher. A reclusive top designer is forced to face up to her past when her exclusive New Year's Eve party, on her Caribbean hideaway, is ‘crashed’ by a woman she had tried her whole life to forget.
A Private Affair is the new spellbinding tale of love and friendship, glamour and guilt, secrets and deceit from bestselling author Lesley Lokko.
Dubbed a ‘brainy blockbuster’ by the publishers this is a good meaty yarn about four friends from 1981 onwards. It’s got all the right ingredients – glamour, intrigue, heartache, loss and tragedy - you name it and it’s got it. The Lace of today, cracking stuff.
April 2011 Book of the Month. A thoroughly enjoyable, indulgent and escapist read. A ‘seemingly perfect’ family with three sons, nicknamed ‘the heavenly creatures’ whose lives are torn apart after a long hidden secret emerges.
Shortlisted for the RNA People’s Choice Award 2010. Follow Nic, Caryn and Tory as their friendships are tested, their love lives get complicated and power, revenge and money all play their part in the this blockbuster of a book. Pure entertainment for a rainy afternoon. A personal message from Lelsey Lokko... Dear LoveReading Readers (if that’s what I call you!),I’ve never been nominated for anything in my entire life so this is a real surprise and I’m absolutely thrilled to be on the shortlist. Although I feel as though I’ve been writing for decades, I’m still at the beginning of my career so something like this really is a Very Big Deal indeed. Thank you again and again for the nomination . . . and for your vote should you decide to give it to me!With warmest best wishes (from a decidedly un-summery Jo’burg)Lesley
Three girls in search of a missing piece of their lives; three girls who will change their worlds to find it ...
Half-sisters struggle not to repeat the mistake their mothers made, sharing the same man. This is the second novel from an author well worth trying if you enjoy blockbusters, Desperate Housewives and good old-fashioned story telling. This title is also available as an Audiobook in CD format. Comparison: Judith Krantz, Shirley Conran, Tilly Bagshawe. Similar this month: Louise Bagshawe, Daisy Jordan.
Full of danger, secrets and lies, the dazzling novel from bestselling author, Lesley Lokko. Nothing fazes Lexi Sturgis. She's faced bullets, battles and bitter rivals to chase news stories other reporters would kill for. Living for risk and adventure, she abides by one rule: don't let anyone get too close. Jane Marshall is feeling desperate. Her family is in disarray and her once high-flying TV career is sinking. She needs a big scoop, fast - and it seems Lexi might be the one to help. For dedicated medical student Deena, the horrors of a war-torn Egypt are too shocking to ignore. She travels across the world to offer help, leaving her younger sister shattered with worry. In a journey fraught with danger, secrets and uncertainty, these women are thrown together in an extraordinary struggle. Can they overcome the pains of their pasts and find the courage to trust each other?
Soul Sisters by Lesley Lokko is a rich, intergenerational tale of love, race, power and secrets which centres on the lifelong friendship between two women: Scottish Jen McFadden and South African-born uKwemisa Mashabane, known to her friends as Kemi. Since childhood, Jen and Kemi have lived like sisters in the McFadden family home in Edinburgh, brought together by a shared family history which stretches back generations. Kemi was educated in Britain alongside Jen and the girls could not be closer; nor could they be more different in the paths they take in life. But the ties that bind them are strong and complicated, and a dark family secret exists in their joint history. Solam Matsunyane is from South Africa's black political elite. Handsome, charismatic, charming, and a successful young banker, he meets both Kemi and Jen on a trip to London and sweeps them off their feet. Partly influenced by her interest in Solam, and partly on a journey of self-discovery, Kemi, now 31, decides to return to the country of her birth for the first time. Jen, seeking an escape from her father's overbearing presence, decides to go with her. In Johannesburg, it becomes clear that Solam is looking for the perfect wife to facilitate his soaring political ambitions. But who will he choose? All the while, the real story behind the two families' connection threatens to reveal itself - with devastating consequences . . .
A captivating family drama about sisters and long-held secrets spanning from the 1930s to the present day, perfect for fans of Downton Abbey. 1936, Chalfont Hall, Dorset. As the dressmaker puts the last pins in her dress, thirteen-year-old Kit is wondering why she has to go through the charade of seeing her sister Lily presented at Court. With her waves of auburn hair and her piercing green eyes, Kit knows that her sister's place on the social scene is guaranteed regardless of her dress, and as the door to a life of parties and eligible young men opens for Lily, Kit must make do with tiptoeing around the gallery of Chalfont, eavesdropping on the conversations of the grown-ups. But the arrival of a German visitor one evening soon sets in motion a chain of events that none of the family could have anticipated. Years later, the aftershock of events will be felt by a new generation . . .
In a beachfront mansion in Martha's Vineyard, Annick and Rebecca relax, safe in the knowledge that their young children are in the care of life-long friend Tash. But by the end of the afternoon, one of the children will have vanished...Annick, daughter of an actress and an assassinated president, has spent her life running from the truth of her family's wealth. Rebecca has always done the right thing. Perfect daughter. Perfect wife. Perfect mother. She's beginning to wonder if she'll ever get chance to live for herself. And Tash, free from the poverty of her heritage, has the world at her feet. So why is she struggling to keep a grip on her life? This is the sweeping story of three very different women; their pasts, their secrets, and their friendship.
Five stories of secrets, love and friendship from the bestselling author of A PRIVATE AFFAIR.Comprises: SUNDOWNERSSAFFRON SKIESBITTER CHOCOLATERICH GIRL, POOR GIRLONE SECRET SUMMER.
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